EXCLUSIVE - Jersey Live co-founder: "Watch this space"

Friday 27 January 2017

“It’s like a band breaking up, isn’t it?”

Well, yes, in terms of the outpouring of nostalgia following the announcement that Jersey Live, and its sister fest Folklore, would be axed.

But unlike Oasis’ Gallagher brothers, whose infamous band break-up allegedly resulted from thrown plums and guitars wielded like swords, the “two Warrens” – Warren Le Sueur and Warren Holt - have announced the break-up a little more traditionally, Warren Le Sueur told Express in an exclusive interview.

The split, he said, resulted from a creative clash.

“If you’ve got two people who like different types of music trying to get that to meet in the middle, to then be able to offer something for the people of Jersey consistently and do it well - it’s difficult. To remain patient, amicable and understanding of each other’s ideas and directions is a challenge in itself.”

Pictured: Jersey Live being set up at the Royal Jersey Showground in Trinity.

Although Jersey Live 2017 had already been announced when the news broke of the festival’s closure, the feeling that the duo’s collaboration was nearing its “natural end” was already in the air – “the thoughts were there” even prior to the 2016 festival, he said. 

“You’ve got to be able to enjoy what you do. And as much as I did enjoy it over the years, it was just starting to creep in that it was all starting to become a little bit frustrating…

“The ideas we shared in 2004 are not the same ideas we share now, so it was getting more difficult with the process of booking acts and made doing the production ideas on the site just a bit more difficult. We both want to be able to enjoy it and it’s just become a little bit less enjoyable.”

Rather than let the JL experience “go stale”, the pair wanted to end on a happy note, leaving its loyal attendees with lasting memories of festival fun.

“We feel it’s only right that Jersey Live and Folklore are put into the history books of Jersey and we can just both move on and try and create something new.

“We’ve gone out on a high, we’ve shook hands, we’ve got some great memories obviously, and it’s been a pleasure,” he said.

But it wasn’t always this way: Jersey Live’s roots are humble, having started as little more than a shared dream of an on-Island music showcase inspired by the likes of Glastonbury.

While people back in, “…2002 and 2003 were saying “you’ll never get a festival off the ground,” it was seeing St Malo’s Route du Rock that provided the spark of inspiration to really get plans going.

“A lot of people were going from Jersey – a good three 300 to 500 people, a really solid community. The first time I went there – the Yeah Yeah Yeahs were playing, and 2manydjs were actually headlining the Main Stage. They were absolutely mind-blowing because they were quite fresh then and it was quite different what they were doing… At Route du Rock there was just a mainstage, a couple of bars, merchandise area – it didn’t look from a visual perspective like a difficult task to do.”

From this igniting moment, Jersey Live accelerated quickly from a one-day event with just 4,000 people to a boutique festival of sufficient quality to attract big name fire starters, The Prodigy, in 2008 – “a highlight” for Warren.

“I don’t really get star struck much with a lot of the artists, but I did with The Prodigy. The production on stage was the biggest we’d done so far – it was memorable: the sound was amazing, the crowd were just absolutely lapping it up, the lights – it was just spectacular… [and] surreal. 

“The Prodigy in a field in Trinity on a Sunday night. It was a bit strange.”

Snow Patrol too were another coup, having “sold out two to three months in advance – probably the best sales we’ve ever done in terms of demand.”

Jersey Live wasn’t just about drawing in stars, however, it championed the little guy too and “educated a generation” along the way. 

“I suppose the big discovery one was Ed Sheeran [in 2011]. When we managed to book him, he was very little known… We’d managed to land him back in February, so by the time September had come round, he’d just broke and broke big. We had him on stage at 14:30, and had a huge influx – massive queues at the gate at 12 o’clock.”

This ability to spot fresh talent was one that served the Warrens well. But how did they do it? 

“Just listening to a lot of music. Having it on in the background when you’re not paying attention something shines through, and when something shines through you go, “what’s this?””

But while their ability to spot top talent remained unwavering, the artists’ fees unfortunately didn’t.

“The last 5 years, artist fees have just absolutely skyrocketed. I don’t think the punters understand that. The artists are getting a lot a lot of money, and it’s difficult now to be able to compete because there are so many festivals in Europe and the UK.

“It’s also about enticing the artist to come across. You’ve got to compete for availability. The artist can only play one gig on the night in the day so where are they the night before? The night after? It’s a big world out there and there’s only 52 weeks.  When you say that to people, it then becomes really difficult as it’s one weekend in the year.”

Despite difficulties, he remains “proud” of what the duo achieved together. His only regret?

“I think the fact that we were unable to bring in the camping element to it was that final last piece of the jigsaw that we weren’t able to fit in.”

Pictured: Warren Le Sueur would have loved to see camping take place as part of Jersey Live - his one regret.

“…If you’ve got less people coming in from off-Island, you’ve only got a finite amount of people who are genuinely interested in coming to your event. If you’ve got a camping option, it boils down to economics: you’ve got a greater reach, because people have more opportunity to choose and they can come more affordably.

“But it’s also just part and parcel of festivals as well. It didn’t quite capture for me that it was a festival. It just felt like it was just missing that something. And that was camping.

“I just wish Jersey Live could have implemented the camping, because if it did I think we would have been in a different kind of place now.”

As for new kids on the block, Reasons, or any other aspiring festival-makers, Warren advises, “…doing your homework” because the economics and infrastructure behind festivals are a “challenge.”

Photo: Ben Newman, Organiser of Reasons, one of Jersey's newer festivals. (Photo: Ollie Voak)

“It’s actually quite difficult to deliver an event, especially in Jersey. As nice a place as it is, it comes with its logistical challenges. I think anyone willing to be brave enough to try and produce an event and put their neck and money on the line needs respect.”

Putting on a large-scale summer spectacular certainly demands respect, and a steady pair of hands to steer the ship. Even with a gap left in the market now, Warren maintains that neither of the pair had the intention of continuing the endeavour solo.

“With Jersey Live, people know it as the pair of us – the two Warrens. For one of us to carry that on just wouldn’t be the same.”

So the brand will go down with both of them - not as a sinking ship, but flying high on the support of the public.

“I knew there was great support for Jersey Live but if feels a bit more personal now and that’s nice to see. Throughout the years, you will always get major upside, but you’ll still get your trolls along the way who’ll try to pull you down but that was always our way, genuine acceptance from people. I want to go out with that.”

That’s part of what’s spurring him onto bigger, brighter things instead of taking a rest after a 13-year festival cycle.

“I still remain as passionate as I was in the first place, but now I’ve got a bit older and a bit longer in the tooth, but I’ve got a lot more experience.”

He’s practicing “carpe diem”, he says, and now working with a group of “likeminded people” on a new event.

It’s dance-orientated, he teases, and we can expect further details in the coming weeks.

“Everyone’s sharing the same ideas so it’s enjoyable, and that’s the key word. You’ve got to be able to enjoy what you do. So I’m really looking forward to that.”

But that’s not all, Warren’s doing his research on how to make his future events more “immersive” inspired by the likes of Secret Cinema.

“Noon ‘til midnight, people want to be engaged more rather than just see blank canvases, so it’s something I really wanted to start exploring… If I’m fortunate enough to get involved in something where I can bring that element to the Island at a high standard then that will certainly be my next thumbs up, I’ve achieved something.” 

“But it’s the end of a long chapter, and who knows? There might be a new chapter for us to start reading… Watch this space.”